Dawn Of Mankind - Before The Heart Stops Beating

Koen W. : This Dutch band has been around since 2003 and was originally founded as an old school hardcore band. They have released two EPs in the past and played a lot of shows. Yet it took until the end of 2017 before they released a first full-length album. The old school hardcore has evolved into metalcore with a solid metal contribution. Fortunately, that typical hardcore attitude was kept by keeping everything simple and not playing too complicated song structures. This way it stays nice and straight in your face. Opener 'One Hateful Thursday' does confuse the listener a bit though. It starts modest and at times it has a slightly dramatic undertone. It is the ideal warm-up for what follows. From the second tune 'Parted Ways' all hell breaks loose. Rather striking is the big mouth of singer Sven Slokker. He seems to have an inexhaustible source of energy and with all his anger he roars everything to pieces. Due to the clear production, the drums are spread from your speakers to all corners of the room. The guitar work goes from brutal to sharp riffs and even at times melodic. Nowhere does boredom kicks in. On the contrary, here and there are some extra elements added that give the album some extra appeal. For example, a techno beat was added at the end of 'Never Thought'. They end with 'Welcome Home' that can be considered as their own anthem. These guys deserve to be picked up by a label that can give them the necessary publicity. Absolutely recommended for fans of metalcore, hardcore and everything that revolves around.